


Mistletoe

by Ohmygodnighttroll



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M, Fluff, M/M, Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-18
Updated: 2018-01-18
Packaged: 2019-03-06 09:32:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,833
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13408389
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ohmygodnighttroll/pseuds/Ohmygodnighttroll
Summary: What started out as a Christmas prank turns into an all-out snogfest as Lily Evans decides to take revenge against James Potter.James and Lily kissed 3 times before they started dating in 7th year. This was the second time.





	Mistletoe

**Author's Note:**

> A ficlet I've been trying to write since before Christmas. Based off an RP post. (Linked here)
> 
> Just some fluffy shit. In the same universe as The Parts We Hide Away.

The last day before the Christmas holiday, Lily awoke to something tapping her in the head. Confused, she sat up and patted her head with her hands. There was nothing there that she could feel. She dropped her hands.

_Tap tap tap._

She lifted her hands again--nothing.

 _What the hell?_ Lily swung her legs out of bed and padded quietly to the bathroom. She looked into the mirror and groaned. Floating above her head was a sprig of mistletoe. She reached up to swat it away, but every time she did so, the mistletoe would fly just out of reach.

“If this is somebody’s idea of a joke,” Lily warned loudly, gaining the attention of her roommates. “I would rethink your definition.”

Her roommates giggled at the sight of the mistletoe still tapping her head. Each swore up and down that they were not the masterminds behind the joke.

“C’mon,” said Marlene before coming forward and kissing her full on the mouth, “You know exactly who did this. What student do you know who’s been dying to kiss you, and also thinks pranks like these are the way to do it?”

  
Realization dawned on Lily and she groaned. “Of fucking course he would do this.”

It was only after the rest of her roommates had each given her the briefest of pecks on the lips that an idea hatched in Lily’s mind.  She reached into her makeup bag and pulled out her most lurid shade of red lipstick.

“Game on, Potter.”

The first person she kissed was James’ own friend Peter Pettigrew whom Lily found standing in front of the portrait hole, as if he was waiting for her to arrive..

Lily stared at him hand on her hips. “What are you doing Peter?”

Peter who was small in stature compared to the rest of his friends, but stood almost at eye-level with Lily, looked around panicked. “Nothing.”

Lily cocked her head to the side. “Doesn’t look like nothing. It looks like you’re waiting for someone. Who are you waiting for Pete? Is it James? You’re in on this aren’t you?”

Peter squirmed where he stood. “I-I don’t know what you mean,”

“Oh don’t play dumb with me Peter. You and I both know that you’re just as brilliant as your friends. That means you know exactly how this--” she pointed to the sprig “Came to be dancing around my head.”

Peter’s cheeks flooded with heat and he squirmed some more. “I really can’t tell--”

Lily sighed. “All right, you can’t tell me, but you know that I know that James is behind this. So you can either get out of my way, or you can help me get back at him.” She placed a hand on his shoulder. “Choice is yours Pete.”

Peter looked like was going to wet himself. He kept glancing nervously from the staircase leading to the Boys’ Dormitory to the portrait hole behind him.

“C’mon Peter, the clock is ticking.”

Peter caved. “All right,” he said. “What do you want from me?”

Lily grinned. “Just hold still.” She leaned forward and pecked him lightly once on the lips and then on the cheek. “There, that wasn’t so bad now was it?”

Peter turned tail and ran out of the portrait hole. Lily gave him enough room to breathe and then exited as well.

Wanting to make this game last as long as possible, Lily skipped breakfast and made her way straight to morning classes. She knew this way she wouldn’t see James until lunch and could maximize the effect of her retaliation. During Foreign and Magical Languages, she kissed the members of her study group. In Herbology, she kissed Benjy Fenwick and Bertram Aubrey. By the time lunch rolled around Lily had kissed most of the boys and girls-- 3rd year and above-- in Gryffindor and Hufflepuff, and had had a rather pleasant encounter with a 6th year Ravenclaw girl.

On her way to the Great Hall for lunch she found herself slamming headlong into Remus and Sirius, who were so wrapped around each other it was hard to tell where one ended and the other began.

“Let me guess, you’re ‘playing chess’ again?” Lily remarked with a smirk.

The boys jumped apart, Remus trying desperately to straighten his disheveled clothes.

Sirius grinned and shook out his hair. “I won.”

“You wish.” replied Remus.

Sirius’ grinned widened as he noticed the mistletoe hovering above Lily’s head. “New accessory, Evans?

“Oh just something I found floating around,” she responded. “I assume you know who’s behind this?”

“I mean it does have James written all over it.” Remus agreed.

“I expected as much. Say, you wouldn’t want to help a girl out would you?”

The boys wore matching mischievous grins.

“And what exactly would we be helping you with?” prompted Remus.

“Proving a point.” Lily winked and  grabbed Remus by the front of his robes, planting a kiss on his mouth.

Though hesitant at first, Remus relaxed and responded to Lily accordingly. His lips were soft and cold and tasted of peppermint. Most likely from the candy canes he and Sirius were always consuming. He placed both hands on her shoulders steadying himself and nibbled on her top lip.

 _Damn_ Lily thought, _this boy can kiss._ They broke apart and Lily giggled at the sight of the bright red lipstick smeared across his lips.

“Leave it there,” Lily said as Remus reached up to wipe it away. “The evidence is crucial.”

Sirius’ bark-like laugh erupted behind her, “You’re brutal Evans, remind me to never underestimate you again.”

Lily glanced back over her shoulder, eyebrow raised, “You should never have underestimated me in the first place, Black.”

Sirius laughed again then reached his long slim fingers out and placed them under Lily’s chin.

“All right then, my turn.” Sirius turned Lily to face him.  “Now don’t go falling in love with me Evans, I’ve been told my kisses are _magical_.” he winked in the direction of Remus, who responded by flipping the V.

Lily rolled her eyes. “I’ll try to restrain myself.”

Sirius winked again and crushed Lily’s lips against his own. Where Remus was cool and timid, Sirius was hot and wild. They were polar opposites, and yet Lily could see how they were perfect for each other. Plus if this was what Sirius brought to the table every time he kissed, Lily understood why Remus stuck around. He was a damn good kisser.

When she finally broke the kiss she swayed a little on the spot, feeling a little lightheaded. Sirius, ever the joker, laughed and steadied her on her feet. He pulled out a small mirror-- _of course he carries a fucking mirror_ Lily thought-- and examined his own smear of red, nearly identical to the one his boyfriend was sporting.

“We may have to do this again, Evans.” Sirius remarked idly. “That was quite nice.”

“Save it for your wank bank, Black. This was a one-time thing.”

“I agree.” said Remus, though he was smiling. “I don’t think I’ll be switching to birds any time soon, and neither will you, Sirius Black. Not if I have anything to say about it.” he grabbed Sirius by the arm and pulled him back into their hiding place.

Lily giggled and headed off to lunch. As she walked away she called back over her shoulder “Happy Christmas boys.”

She still hadn’t seen James all day, but if he was the mastermind behind the mistletoe as she was almost 99% sure he was, then by now he had to be looking for her as well.

After taking a quick detour in the bathroom to re-apply her lipstick, she sauntered into the Great Hall with her head held high. She found James waiting expectantly at the Gryffindor table looking smug. She sat down across from him at the table and smiled.

“Hey Evans,” he said through a shit-eating grin, “you’re looking festive today.”

“Am I?” asked Lily, feigning ignorance, “in what way?”

“Oh you know, just looks like you’re getting in the holiday spirit, is all.”

“Oh,” Lily’s eyes flicked up to the mistletoe, “you mean this?”

“It’s definitely a look.” said James. “You know Evans, if you wanted me to kiss you, all you had to do was say so.”

“See that’s the thing about mistletoe.” Lily tapped her chin with her finger. “The only hard and fast rule is ‘if you’re under mistletoe, you have to kiss.”

“If you insist,” James leaned across the table to kiss her, but Lily put up a hand to stop him.

“Ah, but you see, someone has made it so I am _constantly_ under the mistletoe. So by that logic, I would have to kiss everyone I come across.”

James’ face paled at the thought. “You wouldn’t.”

Lily leaned in closer and smiled. “Take a look around.”

James gazed out among the sea of Hogwarts students, many of them still bearing the bright red lip prints as a tell-tale sign of who Lily had kissed. At that same moment, Sirius and Remus strode into the Hall, each of them still bearing the remnants of Lily’s kisses. Peter was trying his hardest to hide under the table whilst James watched them in horror.

“Et tu Moony? I’d expect this kind of betrayal from Peter, maybe Pads, but I thought you--” he looked out across the Great Hall again.

“That’s it!” he declared, “We’re dueling! I will any and all of the people you kissed Evans! I’m not scared!” he reached down to pull his wand from his robes, but fumbled and sent it skittering across the floor.

“Pay no attention to that! Ignore it! I’m good with my wand okay?!”

Lily laughed at the scene James was creating; it was hilarious and almost adorable how flustered he was becoming.

“Well Potter, I think we’ve learned a valuable lesson today.” With a wave of her own wand, she vanished the mistletoe from above her head. “Don’t ever try to trick me into kissing you again.”

James was still arguing with Remus and Sirius when Marlene sidled up to the table.

"I don’t get it: if you could have vanished the mistletoe this whole time, why didn’t you?”

A smile tugged at Lily’s lips. “It’s much more fun to watch him squirm.”

Marlene placed a hand to her chest. “Do my ears deceive me or did ‘Perfect Prefect’ Lily Evans just admit to playing a prank and enjoying it? I need to write this down.”

She mimed pulling out a quill and parchment and began to write. “‘December 17, 1976: Lily Evans enjoys playing a prank on James Potter.’ One would almost  think the Marauders are rubbing off on you.”

“Marlene McKinnon hold your tongue.” Lily scolded playfully. “It’ll be a cold day in hell before I ever admit that _The Marauders_ (she said this with an air of pageantry) have had any influence over me.”

Marlene giggled and made another imaginary note.

“You should probably put him out of his misery though.” she gestured to James who was now trying to duel a trembling fourth year Hufflepuff. “Or at least stop him before he hurts himself or someone else.”

Lily observed the scene and grimaced. Marlene was right: if someone didn’t intervene James would attempt to duel the entire student body. As loathe as she’d be to give him the satisfaction, she knew what had to be done.

“James stop.”

James looked over at her, wand still pointed at the younger boy.

“Don’t stop me Evans! I’m trying to defend your honour!”

“How can you defend my honour when kissing them was my idea and the mistletoe was yours?”

James pondered this for a moment, and slowly lowered his wand. “Yeah, right...Sorry.”

Lily smiled at the blush creeping up the back of James Potter’s neck.

“You know,” she said, “you can’t just enchant a piece of mistletoe to follow me around all day, and then just expect me to kiss you.”

“I know,” James mumbled sadly.

“I am my own person, and I will kiss whomever I want, whenever I want. Understood?”

“Yes.”

“Good. now get over here.” She beckoned him over with one crooked finger.

James’ hazel eyes lit up in surprise. “Yeah? You mean it?”

“Whomever I want, whenever I want Potter. Now hurry up before I change my mind.”

James looked as if Christmas had come early. “Oh hell yes!”

A chorus of “ooohs” and wolf-whistles followed them as Lily led James by the hand out of the Great Hall. She pulled him into an empty classroom on the first landing off the Entrance Hall.

“This is beginning to be a habit with us, Evans.” James chuckled, nervously running his hand across the back of his neck.

“Don’t get used to it, Potter. I’m just happen to be feeling charitable. What with it being the holiday and all.”

James raised a suspicious eyebrow. “What happened to ‘whomever I want, whenever I want’?”

Lily stepped back and crossed her arms across her chest. “I never said I didn’t want to, but I want to _because_ it’s the holiday, and I’m feeling charitable.”

“Admit it, Evans. You like me.”

“Keep it up and I might just change my mind.”

James sobered at her words. “Right… Sorry Evans.”

“Damn right you’re sorry. And don't be mad at your mates either. This was my idea, they just went along with it."

James said nothing, but nodded in response.

"Good.Now let’s get this over with.” With a tiny flick of her wand, the mistletoe reappeared,this time floating above James’ head.

“Funny.” he said. “Really funny, Evans. You know you could’ve van--”

“James!” said Lily with a small laugh, “Stop talking.”

She grabbed him by his neck tie and yanked him forward.

Lily had expected this kiss to be quick like it had with everyone else,but from the moment their lips crashed together, it was like two stars colliding--pulled together by the force of their own gravity. James’ reaction was immediate: he gasped, opening his mouth to deepen the kiss. One of his hands was at her back, the other buried in her hair; pulling, fisting, drawing her even closer to him.

James’ kiss wasn’t controlled like Remus, or passionate like Sirius. But neither of their kisses had made Lily weak in the knees like James’ did. His lips were soft; moist, but not slobbery. She could taste the cinnamon from the pumpkin juice he had been drinking. The scent of Sleakeazys and his cologne filled her nostrils in a heady combination. The other kisses had been fine, but this… This one was something else. What was meant to be a quick peck under the mistletoe had turned into an all-out snogging. She was snogging _James Potter_.

Lily placed both of her hands on James’ chest and pushed until they broke apart. She needed to stop, needed to let her head clear. She couldn’t let his presence affect her like this. This was _James Potter_ , her nemesis. The unofficial bane of her existence. She couldn’t let him get her as flustered as she was now.

James smiled down at her, still breathless from the kissing, Lily’s red lipstick smeared all over his face,. “That was--”

“A one time thing.” Lily finished for them both. “Just getting in the- holiday spirit- is all.”

“I seem to recall you saying that it was a one time thing the last time.”

“Well I mean it this time!” Lily replied emphatically.

“I’ll believe it when I see it.”

Lily’s jaw tightened, she couldn’t stand that smug grin on his face. She needed to put him in his place one more time.

_Crack!_

With a flash of silver light James was knocked back against the desk, laughing uncontrollably. Lily had hit him square in the chest with a tickling jinx.

“Believe that?”

“What is it--with you and--tickling--jinxes?” James gasped between fits of laughter.

“This was a one time thing, Potter.” Lily repeated, “But if you try anything like this again, you’ll be on the receiving end of something a lot worse than a tickling jinx.”

James continued to laugh, but Lily thought she distinctly heard the words “Worth it” between laughs as she left the classroom.

She couldn’t ignore the eyes that were trained on her as she re-entered the Great Hall, but Lily kept her head high and her gaze forward until she sat back down at the Gryffindor table.

“Well you look like you got more than you bargained for,” Marlene handed her a napkin, “you may want this.”

Lily snatched the napkin and wiped at her face. She was relieved to remove the evidence from her face. What had started as a mild prank had gotten way out of hand,and it seemed that the only one who was reaping the consequences was her. She had given James exactly what he’d wanted. How had she ever thought this was a good idea?

 


End file.
